of
Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports
Idaho SWPBIS Training Institute

• Describe the rationale behind a schoolwide approach to behavior support
• Outline the general and generic organization of the application of tiered behavioral supports
• Outline the organization and direction of this year’s Tier 1 training

Getting Started
• Overview, Schoolwide, Non-classroom, Data Decisions,
Team Meetings, Team Planning
Expanding Implementation
• Classroom, Escalation Cycle, Team Status Check, Team
Planning
Sustaining Efforts
• Individual Student, Secondary-group, Team Planning, Longterm Action Planning

• Students, educators, administrators, school staff, families
• Community of researchers, system changers, staff developers
• Institute of Education Sciences (IES), Offices of
Special Education Programs (OSEP), U.S.
Department of Education
• State Department of Education (SDE), Center for
School Improvement & Policy Studies (CSI&PS),
Special Education Statewide Technical Assistance
(SESTA), Project Schools, Northwest PBIS
(NWPBIS)

Examine the features of a proactive systemic approach to preventing and responding to schoolwide discipline problems

• Schoolwide PBIS Team
• Represents school, meets regularly
• Writes plan, trains school employees
• Coach
• Facilitates meetings
• Provides technical assistance to school
• Links school to state
• State Leadership Team
• Guides planning and development
• Coordinates training
• Comprises school teams/structure

• Establish a network of highly skilled personnel who have:
• Fluency with PBIS systems and practices
• Capacity to deliver technical support
• Capacity to sustain team efforts
• Follow-up training throughout the year includes:
• Specialized topics
• Communication and problem-solving

• Please define the roles and responsibilities of:
• administrator
• coach
• team

• Maximizes academic engagement and achievement
• Minimizes rates of rule violating behavior
• Encourages acts of respectful and responsible behavior
• Organizes school functions to be more efficient, effective, and relevant
• Improves supports for students with disabilities and those placed at risk of educational failure

Positive Environment Leads to…
Endorphins in bloodstream, which
• Generate feeling of euphoria
• Raise pain threshold
• Stimulate the frontal lobe so that the situation and learning objective are remembered
Negative Environment Leads to…
Cortisol in bloodstream, which
• Raises anxiety level
• Shuts down processing of lowpriority information (for example, the lesson objective)
• Focuses frontal lobe on the cause of the stress so that the situation is remembered, but not the learning objective
Sousa & Tomlinson, 2011

 Academic problems often precede behavior problems
 Behavior problems often precede academic problems
11

Behavior and academic achievement are inextricably linked. A student’s academic success in school is directly related to the student’s attention, engagement, and behavior. The higher the expectation for scholarly behaviors and the better the supports for students experiencing difficulties, whether mild, moderate, or severe
– the more academic success can be achieved.
(Buffman, Mattos, Weber, 2008)

Discuss the following questions
1. Does everyone in our school agree on why we are here?
2. Does everyone really believe we can make a difference for all kids?
3. In terms of making a difference, do we have a common schoolwide vision?
4. Are clear and specific schoolwide systems in place to make our vision a reality?
5. Are classroom plans in place that match the schoolwide systems?
6. Are individual student support options in place?
7. Do procedures in the office support the school, classroom, and individual plans?
8. Does every adult talk about these plans openly, regularly, and systematically?
9. Do we know, with measurable evidence, that the plans are making a difference?
10. If our plans are not making a difference, are we willing to try something new?

Idaho’s Tiered Instructional and Positive Behavioral
Interventions and Support (PBIS) Framework
Behavioral Systems Academic Systems
Intensive, Individual Interventions
Individual Students
Assessment-based
High Intensity
Targeted Group Interventions
Some students (at-risk)
High efficiency
Rapid response
5-10%
1-5% 1-5%
5-10%
Intensive, Individual Interventions
Individual Students
Assessment-based
Intense, durable procedures
Targeted Group Interventions
Some students (at-risk)
High efficiency
Rapid response
Universal Interventions
All students
Preventive, proactive
80-90%
80-90%
Universal Interventions
All settings, all students
Preventive, proactive

Level of Intensity of Response =
Level of Intensity of Behavior
At the top of the pyramid, this is individualized work. The good news is that if we have developed a solid, positive foundation with the base of the pyramid, we will have more energy and resources to work with this small, challenging group of individuals.
(Hierck, Coleman, Weber, p. 47, 2011)

Response to Intervention

• Emphasis will be placed on the processes, systems, and organizational structures that are needed to enable the accurate adoption, fluent use, and sustained application of these practices.
• Emphasis will be placed on the importance of data-based decision-making, evidence-based practices, and on-going staff development and support.

Model of Continuous Improvement
Plan
Act Do
Check

Got it. I know, understand, and/or agree with this.
This is really important or interesting.
I don’t understand this, or this does not make sense to me.

• Returned instructional time
• Improved academic outcomes
• Reduced number of students receiving highest level of service

Kennedy Middle School
1500
1200
900
600
300
0
95-96 96-97 97-98
School Years
98-99
21

What does a reduction of 850 ODRs and 25 suspensions mean?
Savings in Administrative Time
• ODR = 15 minutes per event
• Suspension = 45 minutes per event
• 13,875 minutes
• 231 hours
• 29, 8-hour days
Savings in Student Instructional
Time
• ODR = 45 minutes per event
• Suspension = 216 minutes per event
• 43,650 minutes
• 728 hours
• 121, 6-hour school days

Student Time
Regained:
6840 minutes
114 hours
14 days
Administrator Time
Regained:
2280 minutes
38 hours
5 days
23

• “GET TOUGH!” (practices)
• “Train and Hope” (systems)

• Clamp down and increase monitoring
• Re-re-review rules
• Extend continuum and consistency of consequences
• Establish “bottom line”

Negative Side Effects:
• Fosters environments of control.
• Triggers and reinforces antisocial behavior.
• Shifts accountability away from school.
• Devalues child-adult relationship.
• Weakens relationships between academic and social behavior programming.

Brainstorm your
“GET TOUGH” practices.

When we experience aversive situations, we select interventions that produce immediate relief and:
• Remove students
• Remove ourselves
• Modify physical environments
• Assign responsibility for change to students and/or others

• Zero tolerance policies
• Increased surveillance
• Increased suspension and expulsion
• In-service training by expert
• Alternative programming

• Are inherently “bad”
• Will learn more appropriate behavior through increased use of “aversives”
• Will be better tomorrow

• Are NOT born with “bad behaviors”
• Do NOT learn when presented contingent aversive consequences
DO learn better ways of behaving by being taught directly and receiving positive feedback

Consequence is NOT synonymous with punishment
Discipline
• Is student focused
• Shows students what they have done wrong
• Clarifies ownership of the problem
• Facilitates problem solving
• Seeks resolution and leaves dignity intact
Punishment
• Is adult oriented
• Requires judgment
• Imposes power
• Arouses anger and resentment
• Invites more conflict
(Hierch, Coleman, & Weber, 2011)

1. React to identified problem
2. Select and add practice
3. Hire expert to train practice
4. Expect and hope for implementation
5. Wait for new problem

PBS is a broad range of systemic and individualized strategies for achieving important social and learning outcomes while preventing problem behavior with all students.
“EBS” = “PBS” = “PBIS”

What Does PBIS Look Like?
Tier 1
• >80% of students can tell you what is expected of them and give behavioral example because they have been taught, actively supervised, practiced, and acknowledged
• Positive adult-to-student interactions exceed behavior
• Function-based behavior support is foundation for addressing problem behavior
• Data and team-based action planning and implementation are operating
• Administrators are active participants
• Full continuum of behavior support is available to all students

What Does PBIS Look Like?
Tier 2 & 3
• Team-based coordination and problem-solving occurs
• Local specialized behavioral capacity is built
• Function-based behavior support planning occurs
• Person-centered, contextually, and culturally relevant supports are provided
• District/regional behavioral capacity is built
• Supports are instructionally oriented
• SWPBIS practices and systems are linked
• School-based comprehensive supports are implemented

• A specific practice or curriculum, but rather a general framework to preventing problem behavior.
• Limited to any particular group of students, but rather for all students.
• New, but rather is based on a long history of behavioral practices and effective instructional design strategies.

What is PBIS?

A systems approach for establishing the
social culture and behavioral supports needed for school to be effective learning environments for all students.

• Prevention
• Define and teach positive social expectations.
• Acknowledge positive behavior
• Arrange consistent consequences for problem behavior
• On-going collection and use of data for decision making
• Continuum of intensive, individual interventions supports
• Implementation of the systems that support effective practices

Reductions:
Students:
• Office referrals
• Suspensions and expulsions
• Referrals to Special
Education
Faculty and Staff:
• Faculty absenteeism
Improvements:
Students:
• Student engagement
• Academic performance
• Family involvement
Faculty and Staff:
• Consistency across faculty
• Classroom management
• Faculty retention
• Substitute performance/perception
• Ratings of faculty “effectiveness

• SWPBIS team drives implementation of practices
• Team uses student and staff input to inform the development of high efficiency systems of support for evidence-based practices
• Team collects and analyzes data
• Team meets monthly to move process forward

• Monthly meetings (while developing first tier)
• Program development
• Impact and implementation
• After first tier of support is established:
• Development of advanced tier interventions
• Identification of non-responders
• Monitor student progress and advanced tier implementation

• Respond effectively, efficiently, and relevantly to a range of problem behaviors observed in schools
• Adopt, fit, integrate, and sustain research-based behavior practices
• Give priority to an unified prevention agenda
• Engage in team-based problem-solving

Classroom
Non-classroom
Individual
Student
Adapted from Horner (2009) Cal. State Fullerton, 2009
46

Schoolwide and Classroom-wide
Systems
1.
Identify a common purpose and approach to discipline
2.
Define a clear set of positive expectations and behaviors
3.
Implement procedures for teaching expected behavior
4.
Differentiate supports from a continuum of procedures for encouraging expected behavior
5.
Differentiate supports from a continuum of procedures for discouraging inappropriate behavior
6.
Implement procedures for on-going monitoring and evaluation

Effective Classroom Management
Systems
• Teach and encourage classroom-wide positive expectations
• Teach and encourage classroom routines and cues
• Use a ratio of 5 positives to 1 negative adult-student interaction
• Supervise actively
• Redirect the minor, infrequent behavior errors
• Precorrect chronic errors frequently
• Increase student engagement through active participation strategies

• Teach and encourage positive expectations and routines
• Supervise actively o All staff: scan, move, interact
• Precorrect
• Provide positive reinforcement

• Support behavioral competence at school and district levels
• Tailor function-based behavior support planning
• Use team and data-based decision making
• Utilize comprehensive person-centered planning and wraparound processes
• Deliver secondary social skills and self-management instruction
• Implement individualized instructional and curricular accommodations

Science of
Human
Behavior
Systems
Change and
Durability
Local Context and Culture
Prevention
Logic for
All
PBIS Features
Evidence-
Based
Practices
Natural
Implementers

• Decreasing development of new problem behaviors
• Preventing increased severity of existing problem behaviors
• Eliminating triggers and maintenance of problem behaviors
• Teaching, monitoring, and acknowledging prosocial behavior
• Using a 3-tiered prevention logic that defines a continuum of support
• Designing schoolwide systems for student success

Decrease development of new problem behaviors
Walker et al., 1996
Prevent
worsening of existing problem behaviors
Redesign learning & teaching environments to eliminate triggers & maintainers of problem behaviors
Teach, monitor, & acknowledge pro-social behavior
53

Idaho’s Tiered Instructional and Positive Behavioral
Interventions and Support (PBIS) Framework
Behavioral Systems Academic Systems
Intensive, Individual Interventions
Individual Students
Assessment-based
High Intensity
Targeted Group Interventions
Some students (at-risk)
High efficiency
Rapid response
5-10%
1-5% 1-5%
5-10%
Intensive, Individual Interventions
Individual Students
Assessment-based
Intense, durable procedures
Targeted Group Interventions
Some students (at-risk)
High efficiency
Rapid response
Universal Interventions
All students
Preventive, proactive
80-90%
80-90%
Universal Interventions
All settings, all students
Preventive, proactive

TIER 3
List Individualized/Intensive practices provided to a few students for support
TIER 2
List Strategic/Targeted practices provided to some students for support
TIER 1
List Core practices provided to all students and intended to support most

Active Administrative Participation
• Actively participate as a member of the leadership team
• Establishes PBIS initiative as one of the top three improvement plan priorities
• Commits to and invests in a 2-3 year implementation effort

Emphasizes Data-based Evaluation
• Conduct self-assessment and action planning
• Evaluate self-improvement continuously
• Identify strengths and needs
• Plan and implement strategic dissemination

• Multiple, overlapping, and competing initiatives
• Overemphasis on conceptualization, structure, and process
• Under-emphasis on data-based decision making
• Failure to build competence for accurate and sustained implementation
• Reluctance to eliminate practices and systems that are not effective, efficient, and relevant
• Low rates of regular positive acknowledgements and celebrations

Brainstorm potential challenges and suggest effective strategies.
Challenges Suggested Strategy

At the end of this year you should feel like…
1. There is room for improvement but we have the basics in place and have a basis for identifying nonresponders.
2. We are teaching desired behaviors to all student in all settings.
3. For the most part, our teachers support implementation
(80%).
4. Our system for supporting the behavior of students is sustainable.